Sometimes you just need to start from the beginning.
We found this to be the case this last week when we were in a village about an hour from the town we are staying in in Mozambique.
We went to this village to share the Gospel, the good news that Christ died and rose again for all who accept him.
Growing up in America, we often take for granted that the word of God is literally at our fingertips in every aspect. We often carry this luxury with us as an expectation that everyone in the world must know the basics of the Bible, God’s Holy Word. We expect the rest of the world to know just as much as the average American about the Bible, and this includes the creation story.
My team and I found ourselves in Sifo, a village that has barely heard about the love of God. At least one full family has for sure heard the word and accepted it and that is who invited us to come and bring the Word of God to the village with some local Mozambican teenagers from our host’s (Mana Sybil) youth club, which is like our youth groups in the states.
As we set out “door to door” (more like hut to hut) we prayed that God would speak through us and that many would accept Him as their savior. We started off with,
“Have you heard of our God and His son Jesus Christ who came to save you from your sins?”
Some responded with a “Yes” and many others with a “No”. In telling them about Christ, we got responses that seemed confused as to “why” they even need a savior. Quickly I remembered the story of a tribe I learned about in my Folk Religion class in Bible school.
The tribe had no contact with the outside world until some missionaries came to live with them to learn their language and eventually win them to Christ. But what they had to do was START FROM THE BEGINNING. Instead of opening with the need for a savior, they opened with the creation of the world, the fall of man, and the first human sin that broke fellowship with our creator.
So the very next day, I decided to START FROM THE BEGINNING. I started with our Heavenly Father creating the world and having daily fellowship with Adam and Eve and how He loved walking with them and spending time with them. I explained the trees that Adam and Eve could eat from and the ONE they couldn’t. I expressed the power of God, the hatred Satan had for His fellowship with man, and the greatness of His love to have a relationship with His creation. I walked them through the need for a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice to wash away our sins so we could again have fellowship with our creator and that believing isn’t enough, there is a need to ask for the salvation and confess with your mouth. After presenting what we believe and why to the village people, families upon families started professing their faith and following our lead through the sinner’s prayer.
With only two and a half days in the village, we have estimated that about 40 people accepted Christ! It was such an awesome experience and learning opportunity for all of us involved. It was so great to partner with the local teenagers who lead us in translating and ministering to the people of Sifo. God has started a might work in this village and the best news is, HE IS NOT DONE. All we had to do was just start from the beginning.
